Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll will start Saturday’s game against the Nashville Predators, head coach Craig Berube confirmed to travelling reporters.
Woll has posted a 5-3-1 record with a .927 save percentage this season. Dennis Hildeby will operate as Woll’s backup.
Berube also reiterated that Anthony Stolarz will see a specialist for an upper-body injury sustained on November 11.
There will be changes to Saturday’s lineup, but Berube didn’t specify which players may be coming out. Berube stated that he will be changing his power play units, but did not provide specific details. Toronto has slumped to a 14.1 percent success rate on the power play, the 31st-best total in the league, only ahead of the Calgary Flames. Berube criticized the power play specifically following Thursday’s 4-0 loss to the Washington Capitals.
“We had power play opportunities, the power play was not good, it’s gotta be a lot better. To me, they played with more passion than we did tonight. That’s what it boils down to. It looked to be like they had way more urgency in their game, way more passion in their game, that’s the difference.”
Matias Maccelli could potentially re-enter lineup, although based on Friday’s practice lines, he appears to be in line to be a healthy scratch again. Maccelli hasn’t played through December and Berube indicated that he’s aiming to get the winger back into the lineup shortly.
Berube also stated that the top line of Matthew Knies, Auston Matthews and William Nylander weren’t close to being good enough, following Thursday’s loss. Matthews and Nylander did not record a shot at 5-on-5, and their struggles have been magnified throughout December. Nylander hasn’t scored since November 26 against the Columbus Blue Jackets. It’ll be interesting to see whether Berube splits up Matthews and Nylander, or separates Matthews from Knies, a pairing that has been stapled together.
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